Southampton Centre for Independent Living Continuing Care (SCILCC) is a seperate company to Southampton Centre for Independent Living (SCIL) but is fully committed to its values and philosophy.

We are an organisation of Disabled People firmly rooted in the British and international disability movement, born of the civil rights campaigns that shook the western world during the sixties, the guiding principle being that disability issues are human rights issues. We work to the Social Model of Disability which defines disability in terms of negative attitudes and discrimination caused by a society which fails to meet the needs of people with impairments.

SCIL and SCILCC are both Community Interest Companies; which are not for profit companies working in the interests of their local communities

We are committed to the principle of equality of opportunity for all people, recognising that people are oppressed and can experience discrimination on the grounds of class, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, as well as impairment.

SCIL and SCILCC are run by and for Disabled People to promote the meaningful inclusion of Disabled People into the community. By ‘Disabled People’ we refer to people with a physical, sensory, intellectual, psychological, psychiatric, emotional, or any other hidden impairment. We therefore include people with learning difficulties, system survivors, cancer survivors and those with HIV/AIDS.

We believe that many services traditionally provided for Disabled People have resulted in segregation, creating systems which actually increase passivity and dependence. We aim to work towards creating real opportunities for Disabled People to live independently and participate in the community. Our services are directed at empowering or enabling Disabled People.

Our philosophy is that all individuals can live independently in the community as long as they can communicate their needs. People who need support for everyday living can be independent if they have control over the way support is delivered. We assist Disabled People by encouraging them to overcome the barriers preventing their independence. The most important thing we help people to realise is that independence is not a matter of doing everything for yourself but of having choice and control over your life and a say in what happens to you.

Choice and Control the philosophy of Independent Living:

Many people believe that independence is about doing everything for yourself, and therefore as Disabled People often need assistance in their everyday life, they cannot be independent.

Disabled people challenge this assumption. We say that independence is not about doing everything for yourself, no-one lives in isolation from the rest of the world, we all depend on each other; this is why we all live as a society.

It is this fundamental understanding that gave birth to the Independent Living movement. Choice and control are two of the most important factors denied to many Disabled People. Disabled people refuse to accept that non-Disabled People have the right to deny them choice and control over their own lives.

Having the finance, and support to enable Disabled People to employ their own assistants to assist them with their everyday lives is a good way of facilitating independence. By employing their own staff, Disabled People can control how the assistance they need is provided, allowing them to lead the lifestyle of their choice.

The ethos of In Control and Individual Budgets/Self Directed Support/Personalised Budgets builds on the philosophy of Independent Living and is now nationally accepted as the benchmark of service provision; with a central government target of all Local Authorities to be offering Individual Budgets by 2010. The foundation of self directed support is involving the service user in identifying their needs, planning the support and the choice and control over the delivery of the support.

Principles:

Adheres to the principle of the Social Model of Disability

Promotes Service User Choice and Control

Inclusive commissioning process

Person Centered Support/Care Plan

Outcomes based

Service User Involvement in Support Package design

Service User Involvement in recruitment and selection of Personal Assistants and Carers